Pencil with booklet



Nov. 10, 1942. M. BRUCK ET Al. 2,301,364

PENCIL WITH BOOKLET -Filed-Jan. 25, 1941 Ma/zam Patented Nov. 10, 1942UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PENCIL WITH BOOKLET Michael Bruck, New York,and Herman Treibitsch, Astoria, N. Y.

Application January 23, 1941, Serial No. 375,578

(Cl. 1Z0-84) trated which comprises a tubular shell I and a Claims.

The present invention relates to a pencil with booklet. Whereas pencilsare known in the art which are in combination with a single card 'orstrip of paper housed in the pencil casing when not in use, difficultiesarise if one tries to substitute a booklet, such as a notebook, multiplesheet calendar, indexed address book, or the like for the one sheet ofthe well-known device. An object of our invention is to provide a pencilwith a booklet which may be Wound on a mandrel or the like, arrangedcoaxially with the pencil casing. Another object is to provide meanswhereby the pencil point may be projected with the aid of a member movedin one manner relatively to parts of the device, and the booklet may bewound on said mandrel by another relative movement in which said memberparticipates. Our invention also aims to provide a booklet for theindicated purpose which comprises sheets of unusual thinness incombination with greater resistance to tear.

The invention consists mainly in a booklet secured at its back to amandrel rotatable in the pencil casing so that it may be pulled forththrough a slot in the latter and be wound on the mandrel when not inuse. The invention further consists in certain means to prevent' frontedges of booklet sheets from being caught and retained in the casingwhen the booklet is pulled out, and in other means for operating themechanism for projecting the pencil point and for retracting thebooklet. The invention also consists in a booklet having sheets of aparticular composition.

Further objects and details of our invention will be apparent from thedescription given hereinafter and the accompanying drawing illustratingseveral embodiments thereof by way of example. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal cross-section of a pencil with bookletaccording to the invention,

Fig. 2 is a, cross-section along line 2-2 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 2a is an elevation of the top of the shell,

Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portion of the booklet of Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is an elevation of a portion of a sheet thereof,

Fig. 5 is a top view of a portion of the booklet cover, i

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal cross-section of a modiiled embodiment, and

Fig. 7 is a cross-section along line l--l of Fig. 6.

, In the embodiment of Fig. 1, a pencil is illusmechanism generallydenoted by 2 for holding and projecting 'the pencil point 3. The shell Iis tapered at its lower end 4 and has an apertured bottom 5. Alongitudinal slot 6 is provided in the wall of the shell, and theportion on top of the slot is slitted as clearly shown at I in Fig. 2a.'I'he slitted portion 8 is set olf with respect to the main portion ofthe shell so as to receive thereon a ring 9 holding the slitted portiontogether. The top end of the shell is interiorly threaded as indicatedat I0. A tubular mandrel II is rotatably mounted within the shell I andguided in the bottom portion 5. The mandrel has a collar I2 interiorlyof the shell. A flanged piece I3 is screwed into the threading I0. Itengages the upper face of collar I2 and is provided with a centralaperture I4 in which the mandrel is rotatable. The mandrel is providedwith a hollow head I5 secured thereto after the member I3 has beenmounted on the mandrel, whereby the latter is prevented from moving inaxial direction-relatively to the shell when the member I3 is connectedto the shell. A cap is removably attached to the head I5 by a tight t.The aforementioned mechanism 2 for projecting the pencil point is of awell-known structure and not per se part of the invention. A detailedillustration of its co-operating elements is unnecessary for thatreason. In comprises mainly two parts I1 and I 8 rotatable with respectto each other. Part I8 is inserted into the mandrel II and held inposition by an indentation I9 of the mandrel. A booklet 20 comprising aplurality of sheets 2|, a top cover 22, and a bottom cover 23 issecured, near its back 24, to the mandrel II opposite the slot 6 whoselength is slight- 1y larger than the height and whose width is slightlywider than the thickness of the booklet. The latter is passed with itsfront portion through the slot Ii. The front edge of its top cover isWound about a wire 25 and secured thereto, and a slitted tube 26 isfitted over the covered wire so as to constitute a, stop preventing thefront edge of the cover from slipping into the interior of the shell,and simultaneously a grip for pulling outthe booklet. However, there isthe danger that the bottom cover and some or even all the sheets betweenthe covers will be caught inside the shell and, thus, prevented fromfollowing the top cover 22 through the slot 6. We have found that thisdanger can be avoided by one of two measures or by both of them utilizedsimultaneously. The rst measure consists in making the bottom coversufficiently wide to be well within the slot when the stop 26 of the topcover bears against the outer edge of the slot thereby preventing thebooklet from being further pulled inward by rotation of the mandrel. Thewidth of the sheets 2| is preferably of smaller width than the coversso. that the stop 26 is able to close the slot as clearly shown in Fig.2. According to the second measure, the slot has a particular shape inthat the walls 21 and 28 of the slot are substantially tangential withrespect to the inner cylindrical surface of the shell. Thereby, a sharpinterior edge 23 is formed on the side oi' the lower booklet cover. Thisedge tends to direct the lower cover with the sheets on top of it intothe slot so that they will follow when the top cover is pulled out.

The device may be used in the following manner: By turning part i1relatively to the shell, the pencil point will be projected or withdrawnbecause a relative rotation of the mandrel is prevented in the onedirection by the stop 26 and inthe other direction by the braking actionof the booklet i! a torque is exerted at its back tending to unwind it.When the booklet is pulled ont the pencu mechanism n and ls win tum asan entirety together with the mandrel so that this mechanism will not beoperated. The same is true when the booklet is pulled inside the shellby turning the tightly tting cap I6 and thus the mandrel Il relativelyto the shell I.

A particular problem arises in connection with a booklet for a pencil ofthe type described as it is imperative to use a very thin sheet materialwhich, nevertheless, is sulciently strong in order to withstand thestresses occurring by frequent use. We have found that conventionalpaper is not very satisfactory in this respect. For this reason, Weprefer to make the covers and sheets of the booklet of an artificialcellulosic matter such 'as cellophane which may be obtained in very thinsheets of high resistance to tear. Such material, being transparent, isused as a foundation to which we apply an also very thin layer of anopaque, preferably white or light ink, for instance by printing. Suchlayer may be provided on only one side or on both sides of a sheet andoers a writing surface on the originally glossy foundation. However,care must be taken that all the edges of each sheet are straight becauseany incision or inwardly directed corner of an edge so diminishes theresistance that a sheet can be easily ripped starting from such incisionor corner. Hence, it

, would not do to shape the front edge of a sheet with an index tab asconventional in, e. g., address books. Therefore, if the bookletaccording to the invention is provided with index tabs in alphabeticorder or otherwise, we make the front edge of a sheet of cellophane-likematerial straight and shape the imprinted opaque layer so as to includethe desired tab. If, then, the sheets of the booklet are superimposedupon each other, the tab of any lower sheet will be visible through thatportion of the sheet on top of it which is not covered by the layer ofink. This is illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the drawing, the lattershowing a portion of a sheet with a tab, in fact the B tab of analphabetic index. The sheet is made of the foundation 30 of thementioned transparent cellulosic material covered by the layer 3l ofwhite opaque ink. The upper right-hand corner 32 of the layer is shapedto form the tab for the letter B. In Fig. 3 showing sheets with theletters A, B, and C one on top oi' the other, the letter B is visiblethrough the transparent portion 34 of the sheet with the letter A whosesmaller tab 33 covers only the upper portion of the tab 32 of the Bsheet. Similarly, the letter C of the third sheet is visible throughboth the transparent portions 30 and 34 of the B and A sheetsrespectively.

In the foregoing, the combination of a booklet with a pencil has beendescribed in which the pencil mechanism comprises two parts rotatable inrelation to each other in order to project the pencil point. In Fig. 6another embodiment of our invention is shown in which the pencilmechanism comprises two parts movable in axial direction in relation toeach other for the same purpose. These two parts are denoted with 40 and4I respectively. Part 40 is secured to the lower end of a shell 42 andpart 4I is attached to a tubular member 43 axially guided in the shellat 44. A spring 45 tends to hold the part 4l and member 43 in an upperend position. The type of mechanism 40, 4I is not a part of the presentinvention, and as it is well known in the art a detailed description isnot required. In its upper portion, shell 42 is provided with alongitudinal slot 46 similar to slot 6 of Fig. l. A mandrel 41 isarranged inside the shell so as to bear with its fiange 48 on an innercollar 49 of the shell. A cap screw 50 with a central opening 50' isscrewed on the shell at 5I so as to engage, with its portion 52, thetubular mandrel 41 to which the booklet 20 is attached similarly to thestructure of Fig. 1. Another tubular member 53 is arranged within themandrel and splined in relation thereto by means such as keys 56 so thatmember 63 may be moved in an axial direction relatively to mandrel 41.It has a lower collar 54 to limit its upward movement, and engages thetop of the member 43. Its upper end extends through the opening 5U ofthe cap screw 5D, and a top cap 55 may be detachably connected thereto.Thus, it will be clear that by pressure exerted on cap 55, member 53 andthereby 43 and 4i may be shifted in axial direction relatively to theshell 42 and part 40 to project the pencil point. The named parts willbe returned to their original position by spring 45. On the other hand,by turning cap 55, and with it member 53 and mandrel 41, the booklet 20may be wound on the mandrel 41 without causing a relative movement ofthe parts 40 and 4l. It will be noticed that in both embodimentsillustrated in Figs. l and 6, there is a member capable of being movedselectively and relatively to two other members in order to project thepencil and to withdraw the booklet into the cases. In both instances thecentral members are made hollow for the reception of spare leads, or asa casing for other matter useful in connection with writing utensilssuch as an eraser; or even for other matter, e. g., for pills, the userdesires to have handy.

Although we have described only certain embodiments of our invention inwhich a booklet is combined with a pencil, it will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art that a booklet of the type hereinbefore described maybe connected with an article other than a pencil, e. g. with a portionof a hollow cane, provided such article comprises -a shell fit toreceive therein the booklet and parts required to wind it on an interiormandrel. Thus, many modifications and alterations of the illustratedembodiments may be made without departing from the essence of our invention, the scope of which, therefore, shall be limited only by theappended claims.

What we claim is:

1. In an article comprising a tubular shell, the

combination of a 'mandrel rotary in said shell, a longitudinal slot insaid shell, a booklet including a plurality of leaves and a top and abottom cover, said booklet being inserted in said slot and, at its back,attached to said mandrel, a stop attached to the front edge of said topcover, so as to prevent it from passing into the interior of the shellwhen the mandrel is rotated to wind the booklet thereon, and the bottomcover having a width so as to stay in engagement with said slot when thestop prevents further winding of the booklet.

- 2. In an article comprising a tubular shell, the combination of amandrel rotary in said shell, a longitudinal slot in said shell, abooklet including a plurality of leaves and a top and a bottom cover,said leaves being smaller in width than said covers, said booklet beinginserted in said slot and, at its back, attached to said mandrel, a stopattached to the front edge of said top cover, so as to prevent it frompassing into the interior of the shell when the mandrel is rotated towind the booklet thereon, and the bottom cover having a width so as tostay in engagement with said slot when the stop prevents further windingof the booklet.

3. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cross-section of the slothas one ank substantially tangential to the inner shell cylinder, theother flank being formed with a sharp inner edge directed towards saidfirst-mentioned flank.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination of twocoaxial members rotatable relatively to each other, one of said membersbeing a mandrel and the other one a slotted shell surrounding saidmandrel and being adapted to 'part being secured to one of said membersand said second part being movable relatively thereto, whereby saidbooklet will be wound on said mandrel by turning the latter relativelyto said shell, and the pencil point will be projected by a relativemovement between said mandrel and said second part of said mechanism.

5. In a device'of the character described, the combination of arotatable tubular mandrel, a slotted shell coaxially surrounding saidmandrel and being adapted to receive therein abooklet wound on saidmandrel and projecting through the slot of the shell, a mechanism foradvancing a pencil point, said mechanism being coaxial with said shelland including two parts, one of which being secured to said shell andthe other one being arranged interiorly of said shell and axiallymovable relatively thereto, and an elongated member interiorly of saidmandrel and connected therewith for common rotation but axially movablein relation thereto, said elongated member being in engagement with saidother part of said mechanism, whereby said booklet will be wound on saidmandrel by turning said elongated member relatively to said shell, andthe pencil point will be projected by axially shifting said elongatedmember relatively to said shell.

MICHAEL BRUCK. HERMAN TREIBITSCH.

